@ Village Studios

We had an excellent afternoon of making music at Village Studios. The Village drips with musical history. Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Barbara Streisand, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan are among the hundreds of famous artists who have recorded there. Our engineer, Leslie Ann Jones, goes way back with studio owner Jeff Greenberg and she booked our tracking session for September 20th. Studio A is lit only by crossing strings of colored lights and the walls are draped with red and black curtains... there is musical gear and wiring all over the place, so it has the feel of a dark and secret club-house for musicians.

Leslie and assistant engineer Vanessa Parr were already setting up the room when Jerry and I got there. Shortly Leland Sklar arrived with a beautiful bass that he has played on hundreds of albums by artists such as James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Roberta Flack, Phil Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, Art Garfunkel, Kris Kristofferson, etc. Lee is an incredibly nice guy and such a pleasure to work with.

With Leland Sklar @ the Village.

Our pianist, Andy Langham, arrived next. It was great to have Andy on the session since we also work with him 'live'. Aside from being a phenomenal player he has one of my favorite traits in a musician... he listens!

There is never a dull moment once Gregg Bissonette walks in a room. He greeted all of us like long lost pals! Gregg is a top studio drummer who has played on records or toured with Santana, Steve Vai, The Doobie Brothers, Lou Rawls, Bette Midler, Joe Satriani, Van Halen, Duran Duran and more... he is also the voice of Winnie The Pooh. That might explain some of his bright energy and enthusiasm.

This day was devoted to laying down the musical tracks for our Kickstarter project, so I sang a 'scratch' vocal as a guide for the musicians. I would record my final vocal on another day. It was so much fun to work with musicians of this caliber and I'd sure love to do it again. I can't wait to have the finished product!

Jerry took this shot outside of the Village. Lee, me, Andy & Gregg.

Jerry getting set up for the session.

Lee giving Leslie a big hug!

Leslie and I in the Studio A control room at the Village.